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Why, I haven't seen any evidence that big science are very good at solving problems. Big science is good at perfecting existing ideas, not inventing new ones, but at this stage I don't think there aren't any great fusion ideas to perfect.

Paul Schatzkin, aka "The Perfesser" – Founder and Host of Fusor.net
Author of The Boy Who Invented Television - http://farnovision.com/book.html
"Fusion is not 20 years in the future; it is 50 years in the past and we missed it."

Musk, the false god of energy would be the last person to talk about fusion. It would just line his pockets with more money on a false dream. What is needed is an independent team of self funded scientists to work on this one. Oh wait, it is fusor.net.

Frank Sanns wrote:Musk, the false god of energy would be the last person to talk about fusion. It would just line his pockets with more money on a false dream. What is needed is an independent team of self funded scientists to work on this one. Oh wait, it is fusor.net.

Wait, I'm curious, why do you say Musk is the false god of energy? I mean I know he's more interested in "indirect" fusion aka. solar, and he's kinda made a quip about fusion being possibly a "fun" problem to solve, off-handedly...but still, he seems to be doing good things nonetheless?

Much of what Musk sells is not good for the whole energy picture and for the environment. I do not want to pick a part the numerous things that he is doing but consider only one of the most recent. The lithium battery "Powerwall" is marketed to save energy and the planet.

From the Teslamotors.com site; "Powerwall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening."

The entire premise is flawed. Solar produces power during the hours of peak usage. It should be utilized during that time as it eases the commercial power grid. Only 3% of the US is solar so daytime utilization is what is needed, not storage. Maybe by the later part of this century when more solar is around the strategy may be different but not today. Definitely not today.

Suggesting that a battery be used in an off grid arrangement in a area that has grid power is another bad choice. Batteries are lossy and can not be filled or drained beyond a set level. This has the potential to leave excess solar energy out of the grid or require inordinately large batteries to do the job. Both are energy wasters including all of the energy put into the batteries to just waste more energy. Anybody that has solar power is well aware of this deficiency and short of being a dooms day prepper, I have no idea why anybody in a city would want to be off grid.

What a bunch of snake oil he sells to line his pockets. He is capitalizing on the hype of environment to loosen people's purse strings. It is being sold to those people with large discretionary income that want to feel good about doing something for the environment.

I will stop there but I see hype again and again from his company and I have zero respect for the damage that he is putting out onto the general public by confusing the facts with marketing. Even if you stop by and talk to one of the Tesla car representatives, they say it is zero emissions. It needs to fuel, you just plug it into your house and go. Minor technicality here with the fossil fuels being used to produce the electricity. One might argue that a big coal plant or other cleaner energies are more efficient than burning petrol but that is a real tough calculation that brings both to very similar places. So the high horsepower, expensive, "green" vehicle that only operates on average of 2 hours a day or often much less, is not even being close to a solution to the energy dilemma this planet is in. It wastes energy and deceives the public once again so they have no idea what the reality of real conservation and prudent energy policy and choices really are.

Frank Sanns wrote:Musk, the false god of energy would be the last person to talk about fusion. It would just line his pockets with more money on a false dream. What is needed is an independent team of self funded scientists to work on this one. Oh wait, it is fusor.net.

Amen.

Open Source is the fusion powered future.

The last thing we need is something as potent as fusion energy in the hands of a cartel.

I have my own thoughts about Elon Musk etal. Starting with: "emission free" vehicles just means the emissions have been transferred to another outlet. Instead of coming out of an exhaust pipe they come out of a smokestack somewhere else. The car is impressive, but let us not be fooled by the magician's slight of hand...

If there is a "race" for fusion, it may well be between the forces of private (funny how they call it "free") enterprise and.... the other 99%.

--PS

Paul Schatzkin, aka "The Perfesser" – Founder and Host of Fusor.net
Author of The Boy Who Invented Television - http://farnovision.com/book.html
"Fusion is not 20 years in the future; it is 50 years in the past and we missed it."

Frank Sanns wrote:Musk, the false god of energy would be the last person to talk about fusion. It would just line his pockets with more money on a false dream. What is needed is an independent team of self funded scientists to work on this one. Oh wait, it is fusor.net.

Amen.

Open Source is the fusion powered future.

The last thing we need is something as potent as fusion energy in the hands of a cartel.

I have my own thoughts about Elon Musk etal. Starting with "emission free" vehicles just means the emissions have been transferred to another outlet. Instead of coming out of an exhaust pipe they come out of a smokestack somewhere else. The car is impressive, but let us not be fooled by the magician's slight of hand...

If there is a "race" for fusion, it may well be between the forces of private (funny how they call it "free") enterprise and.... the other 99%.

--PS

Paul Schatzkin, aka "The Perfesser" – Founder and Host of Fusor.net
Author of The Boy Who Invented Television - http://farnovision.com/book.html
"Fusion is not 20 years in the future; it is 50 years in the past and we missed it."